This Oregon Outfitter Delivers On Trophy Roosevelt Elk

Published: November - 2011

Dennis Dunn says he's found an Oregon outfitter who can really deliver on Roosevelt elk. Dunn is distinguished by having accomplished the "North American Super Slam" of all 29 huntable big-game species with bow and arrow, and tells us, "Part of the challenge is finding those special outfitters who can, with patience and persistence, deliver a particularly difficult species." Here's his special find for Roosevelts: In my opinion, a mature Roosevelt elk bull is many times harder to harvest than his Rocky Mountain counterpart. Roosevelts are not nearly as vocal during the rut, they keep to far denser cover, and believe it or not the terrain they inhabit is often steeper and more difficult to travel.

This past September, on my fourth attempt in the coastal mountains of southwestern Oregon, I finally succeeded. The reason was Ron Hofsess, and his outfit, Avery Mountain Ranches. Hofsess runs a really superb "boutique" operation. He does all the guiding himself, he takes only six hunters per season (four archery and two firearm), and I have never in my life seen a guide work so hard to help his hunter succeed. Ron leases the exclusive hunting rights to 25,000 acres of private land, home to many B&C-class bulls.

Results are critical in the outfitting business. Hofsess received his outfitter's license from the State of Oregon in August, 2009. That fall, he guided just two rifle hunters. One hunter harvested a very large 5x5 bull; the other passed on several 6x6s because he wanted nothing less than a 300-class bull. In 2010, Hofsess took one bowhunter and one rifle hunter. The former took a B & C bull scoring around 300 net; the latter (hunting on a statewide Governor's elk tag) harvested a monster that grossed over 330.

In September 2011, Hofsess guided four bowhunters. All harvested nice bulls: one 4x4, one 5x5 and two 6x6s. I doubt that any other Roosevelt elk outfitter can boast of 100 percent success over three consecutive seasons with over half the clients hunting with a bow!........(continued)